Ascent of Obsidian Butte on 2013-01-27

Ascent Trip Report

Fun place to explore with the kids. It rained the night before so the roads were very muddy. We were in a Honda Civic and had a close call while crossing the levee. I wanted to keep some speed so we wouldn't get stuck and the car was nearly sideways on the narrow levee before I was able to recover from the slide and keep going. The butte has been mined and is likley several feet lower now than the elevation on the topo. The best out crops of obsidian are north of the butte along the shore.

I wanted to check out Rock Hill but it would have been about 2 miles in the mud to get there. Need to return on a drier day. The topo says Rock Hill is -138', but it looked higher than Obsidian Butte and Red Hill. We also went to Red Hill (-127')and walked through the mud out to the mud pots on Davis Road. Jerry Schads article gives good directions to the area and more information: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2001/mar/01/hunt-obsidian-and-view-volcanic-mud-pots-near-salt/